copy of the monkey in the jockket and put it in your office. it is so cute. have him around staring at you all the time. bill: congratulations on your christmas tree getting up this year. martha: no lights on it yet. but it's there. see you tomorrow. "happening now.". jenna: accused gunman in the batman movie massacre is due in courtney moment now. this will be our first look at james holmes since he reportedly tried to kill himself last month by banging his head against the wall of his jail cell. a today's hearing is focusing on a number of different motions including one by the defense asking for sanctions against the prosecution. we have a crew at the courthouse. we'll bring you that news as it comes in. first right now brand new stories and breaking news. jon: a controversial plan to send american-made tanks and fighter jets to egypt at a time of growing protests and dangerous unrest there.

what that could mean for an already unstable region. parts of the nation dealing with blizzard-like conditions. heavy snow and plummeting temperatures. meteorologist maria molina will bring you the forecast. a little girl once on the verge of losing her battle with lukemia is now in full remission. we'll tell you what doctors did that the could change the disease forever. it is all "happening now." jon: we begin with some sad news today. a u.s. navy seal killed during the daring rescue of an american held captive in the heart of afghanistan. good morning i'm jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. when we talk about the american captive, we have a picture of the doctor whose live was saved. he is dylan joseph, a native colorado. he was in afghanistan for humanitarian work when i was kidnapped by the taliban in a province east of kabul.

national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live at pentagon with more. jen, do we have any details on the american who gave his life to save this doctor? >> reporter: they're waiting to contact the family so the military does not release the identity of the seal killed in that rescue attempt. we know he was a member of "seal team 6". not necessarily a member of the same group that carried out the usama bin laden raid. there are about 200 members of "seal team 6". this man, as you said, gave his life for his fellow american. here is a statement that was read by the spokesman for isaf today. >> it has been decided to start the operations since the assessment there was imminent danger of injury or death to the individual. >> reporter: dr. dylan johnson was the doctor who was rescued early sunday morning by u.s. special operators in the eastern part of afghanistan.

he had been taken about 50 miles from the pakistan border. what was interesting he was traveling with two other members of the "morningstar" development team of doctors in eastern afghanistan when they were kidnapped on december fifth. two of the members of his team had been released 11 hours earlier after three days of negotiation with the taliban captors but dr. johnson had been held and that's when general allen decided to send in the u.s. special operators who had practiced this rescue mission. unfortunately one of them gave their life as we now learned. jenna: as we get more information. what has been the reaction thus far from washington? >> reporter: the reaction from the white house and pentagon as you expect is very somber because this was valued member of "seal team 6". we have a statement read by the president yesterday. tragically we lost one of our special operators in this effort. our thoughts and prayers go out to his family just as we

must always honor our troops and military families he gave his life for his fellow americans. from secretary panetta, quote, the special operators who conducted this raid knew they were putting their lives on the line to free a fellow american from the enemy's gripe. they put the safety of another american ahead of their own as they always do, jenna. jenna: save extra prayers for that family today for sure. jennifer, thank you. jon: to the fiscal cliffhanger on capitol hill as the president and house speaker boehner say they're keeping open the lines of communication one day after meeting to discuss the ongoing negotiations aimed at stopping the combination of automatic tax increases and spending cuts set to kick in less than four weeks from now. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel live on capitol hill for us. three weeks from the end of the year, mike. any signs of progress? >> reporter: jon, it is hard to tell we know the president and the speaker of the house met privately

yesterday and as we mentioned both sides say the lines of communication are open but they are not giving out any details of what was discussed or any readout of the meeting. that may be a good sign. the previous meeting was on camera. this one face-to-face privately at the white house and so perhaps they had a chance to roll up their sleeves and get into some of the tough details in terms of finding a deal on the fiscal cliff. this morning a leading republican said any deal should include the major drivers of our debt. >> the long-term indebtedness of this country is baby boomers retiring putting pressure on medicaid, medicare and social security. i hope my party will look out for the country and not just the party itself and pure this president to do something he has never done before, lead in a bipartisan way. >> reporter: a little swipe there at the end but republicans have been consistent that it is important to address entitlement reform, something they very much want on the table if we're going to have a big deal in this fiscal cliff matter.

jon? jon: on the democratic side it seems like they are holding firm on being sure that there is additional tax revenue in any fiscal cliff deal, right? >> jon, no question about that. they have been consistent from the very beginning. the president ran on the upper income americans paying more taxes as part of this deal. we heard more from chuck schumer on "fox news sunday". >> we democrats realize that there have to be two sides to this bargain but we're not going back to what we did in 2011. we both revenues and cuts on the table and ended up with just getting cuts because the other side wouldn't accept the revenues. >> reporter: a lot of folks on both sides feel like this is critical week. we're getting close to the end of the year. you need to give lawmakers a chance to put whatever deal it nice legislative language and sell to constituents and ultimately vote on it and

hopefully send it to the president's desk. jon. jon: we'll see what happens. not a lot of time left. mike emanuel, thank you. jenna: another u.s. drone strike delivering a blow to al qaeda. we're learning about this for the very first time today. pakistani intelligence reporting the strike late last week took out a man, abu al cue tatety. that is al qaeda's newly appointed second-in-command. the missile targeting his home in pakistan north waziristan region north of the afghan border. despite all the action from drones it remains a safe haven in so many ways to our enemy, a big problem. al kuwaiti took over for the man on the screen who was killed in a strike in june. jon: amid word top brass at the state and defense departments as well as senior intelligence officials knew eastern libya was a hub for jihadists for years long before the deadly terror attack september 11th

that killed four americans including our ambassador to libya. new questions now about the level of the security at the u.s. consulate and why our people were put in harm's way in the first place. joining us now, senator john barrasso, republican from wyoming. chairman of the republican policy committee and sifrs on the foreign relations committee. you received a letter from john kerry, the committee chairman, saying that hillary clinton, the secretary of state is expected to testify before the end of the term. how critical is her testimony, senator? >> well i think it is very important to have hearings with hillary and they need to be in my opinion open and on the record. there are so many questions to be asked of this administration, of hillary clinton as secretary of state but also of the president about what happened before 9/11. it has been, tomorrow will be three months since the attacks on 9/11 and there are more questions now, jon, than there even were before. jon: senator kerry indicated

that the accountability review board that ambassador thomas pickering is heading is about to issue its report. do you need to wait for that report to come out before getting the secretary of state's testimony? >> well i want to read the report and i want to ask a numb he about -- number of questions to the secretary but i don't think we need to wait for the report in order to have her come to the hill. the questions are the same. seems like this administration and this president knew or should have known that al qaeda-linked terrorists were there in libya. it was truly a hotbed for recruitment of those terrorists and it really does seem like a poor decision of the administration to deny additional security to our ambassador, who is heading to benghazi an even to allow him to be there but there have been multiple attacks in benghazi. the red cross pulled out. the british pulled out. we continue to send our underprotected ambassador there where he and three other brave americans were massacred. jon: is it your view that we

should not have had diplomatic personnel on the ground or we should have had a military style protection force or both? >> they either needed to be not there or adequately protected. i want to know why the administration on two occasions following two already previous attacks on the consulate there in benghazi still denied additional security and allowed our ambassador there. these are things that developed before the attacks. so much of this focus has been what happened during and after the attack with susan rice and her comments. i want to get it back to the president and the secretary of state and they bear responsibility for what happened on 9/11. jon: well, secretary clinton has already said that the buck stops with her as far as diplomatic security. eric nordstrom, who was in charge of security on the ground, has already testified before congress saying that he had asked for more security and it was rejected at the state department headquarters. is that secretary clinton's

responsibility? >> well it seems that the president should have known about the level of recruitment going on for al qaeda-linked terrorists right in that area. it was a hotbed. it was really a center of recruiting right there in eastern libya. so i want to know why the president continued to speak of having al qaeda on the run when in fact that is not the case at all. we saw them getting stronger, more forceful and the story that he was telling the american people i think now is going to come out was a story to deceive the american people but certainly to mislead them. jon: you started off this segment by saying you believe that those hearings should be open. is there the possibility, maybe likelihood they will be closed? >> not if i have anything to do with it. i want to have open hearings on the record so the american people can hear the answers from the secretary of state. jon: senator john barrasso, republican, from wyoming.

we'll look forward to the hearings and yes we do hope they're open. >> thanks for having me, jon. jenna: now one year since a mysterious crime rock ad wealthy massachusetts town. jack and jerry mcgee murdered in their mansion and the message police have for us up ahead. a major winter storm causing travel nightmares in the midwest. maria molina with on a update where this storm is headed. anncr: some politicians seem to think medicare and... social security are just numbers in a budget. well, we worked hard for those benefits. we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal... we'll all pay the price. aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible... solutions that strengthen medicare and... social security for generations to come.

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jon: right now an update on some crime stories we're watching a possible settlement today between former imf leader dominique strauss-kahn and the hotel maid who accused him of rape. lawyers from both sides meeting with a judge in new york city. charges were dropped but the former maid filed a civil suit against the kahn who

was once considered a strong candidate to become president of france. in a florida murder trial, didi meyers will not take the witness stand. she is charged with swindling, shakespeare out of $17 million and murdering him and burying his body. >> police are asking the help to solve the case. jack and jerry mcgee were shot to death excuse style last december. police believe the murders were well-planned but they have yet to identify any sus speck. jenna: a weather alert. parts of the upper midwest are digging out after powerful winter blast. this is blizzard conditions as you see on your screen and bringing record snowfall. meteorologist maria molina is live from the fox weather center with more. maria? >> that's right, we saw significant snowfall across portions of the midwest over

the weekend. that is actually somewhat good news for the peel. we're looking at a lack of snowfall across the area over last several weeks. finally additional snowfall or significant snowfall falling across the area. today the storm is further off to the east. worst of the snowfall across portions of midwest. another aspect of this storm system ahead of it we have very warm temperatures and that warm area is helping fuel strong storms across portions of alabama, mississippi and louisiana. we can actually see some severe weather and that is what we're seeing occurring already early this morning. we had a number of tornado warnings issued. we have one across the state of alabama and central baldwin county. you have to seek shelter immediately. baldwin county in alabama across southwestern portions of the state. there could currently be a tornado on the ground. threat of isolated tornados and damaging wind gusts will continue throughout the afternoon. the snowfall was significant across portions minnesota

and wisconsin. over a foot of snow in some areas. minneapolis picked up 10 inches of snow. you can see in the images a lot of snow falling across the area. causing all kinds of travel issues though. the storm system is producing more travel issues again not because so much of snowfall but because of rainfall. we have the images on the satellite radar pictures. we have delays over an hour across parts of laguardia and other larger airports. heavy rain is falling further off towards the south across portions of tennessee alabama and georgia. a tornado warning across southwestern parts of alabama and southern mississippi and southeastern louisiana. that is until 3:00 p.m. central time. keep that in mind. you have the chance to see more tornadic activity. look at airport delays because of poor visibility of clouds and rainfall falling across the area. over 100 minute delays in philadelphia. same goes for d.c.

jenna: real quick. how typical are the tornado warnings down south in december? >> very unusual in december. we tend to see a little bit of a first peak. the first peak is springtime early in the summer and we see a lot of tornadic activity. during the month of november. very unusual in december. should be too cold to see the activity but we're seeing it. jenna: listen to the warnings regardless of the time of year. maria thank you so much. >> bye. jon: sentencing expected today for the man convicted of killing a little girl more than 50 years ago. a look at the final chapter in one of the coldest murder cases in u.s. history. and egypt's president beefing up security ahead of an upcoming constitutional vote. we'll have the latest own the fallout from his controversial power grab. that is coming up

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jon: breaking this hour, a man convicted of kidnapping and murdering a little girl in 1957 will soon learn his fate. jack mccullough faces a maximum sentence of life in prison in the death of 7-year-old maria rid ridulph. patti ann browne from the new york city newsroom. >> reporter: jack mccullough was 17 when the 7-year-old girl disappeared and later found dead. mccullough is 73 years old and he was just convicted in her death this year. prosecutors say back in 1957 the teenage mccullough approached maria and other girl. when the other girl left, dragging maria into an alley choked her with a wire and stabbed her in the throat and chess. he dumped her body in a wooded area 100 miles away.

she was found four months later. the case was unsolved for decades. mccullough's half-sister told police that her mother incriminated mccullough before her death. he was arrested tried and convicted. he claims he has an alibi at the time of maria's death. he claims he was traveling to chicago for a medical exam before joining the air force. his half-sister says he is evil and should pend spend the rest of his life behind bars. he faces a maximum life in prison. mccullough did not testify during the trial but will have a chance to speak in court. jon: he has been free for 55 years since the time occurred. >> reporter: incredible. talk about a cold case. jon: patti ann browne, thank you. jenna: we'll turn overseas as the crisis and protests worsen in egypt the white house is going forward with plans to send major military aid to that country, and when we say aid it comes in the form of equipment like 200 abrams tanks and entire squadron of f-16

fighter jets. this is part of a $1.3 billion military aid deal already earmarked for egypt. officials fear canceling would mean job losses here at home and major penalties for broken contracts, upwards of billions of dollars but the arms shipment comes as egypt's new president, mohammad morsi, essentially cracks down on his opposition. in a move creating some say even more instability in this country. so is this a good idea to continue this type of aid? michael singh, former senior director of middle eastern affairs the national security council and washington institute for near east policy. michael, what do you think about that? >> jenna, you have to remember this aid dates back to the camp david accords between israel and egypt. theory behind the aid is longstanding it preserves the good relations between the pentagon and egyptian military especially at time of real chaos and crisis in egypt that those ties could

come handy as they did during the 2011 revolution in egypt. second it assures egypt will adhere to the peace treaty in israel. whether you believe these things are true, jenna, depends, number one do you think the military is independent actor in egypt? or do you think now it is subjugated to the muslim brotherhood and president morsi? second do you think egypt will walk away from the peace treaty to israel which is in its own interest simply if we walk away from the aid. jenna: to pick up on a couple of points do you believe morsi can be trusted as true ally to the united states? >> i think the jury is out, jenna. he acted sort of responsibly in the region so far, brokering the gaza cease-fire. there is counterterrorism cooperation. like hosni mubarak before him he hopes that will get him off the hook when it comes to the domestic activities which he is engaged in now. jenna: so we potentially are arming someone that is neither a friend or an enemy

but a question mark? >> they are a question mark. i think you have to, you have to keep in mind that the u.s. sees this assistance as for the military, not for president morsi. again whether or not that's a valid distinction is up in the air. i think many people would say, jenna a government which acts in an extremist way at home is ultimately not going to act responsibly in international affairs. look at say pakistan for example. or look at other governments around this region which are extremist in nature. jenna: interesting you mention pakistan because of our aid. that also goes to that country. one has to wonder in foreign policy discussions in the year ahead what kind of strings need to be attached, if you believe they should be, michael, with this aid in the years to come? how do you think we should navigate that? >> well i think, jenna, one lesson of pakistan when there is opportunity of change, when there is opportunity for a new modus operandi you need to cease on that because it is often difficult to change these things down the road. the opportunities don't come very often.

now to change it, jenna, tanks and jets are more of a payoff for the egip shun military than they are a real solution to the region's security problems which are things like arms smuggling and counterterrorism and if we keep these military aid programs in place they need to address those threats, not be sort of this outdated way of doing things we've done the past few years. jenna: -- separate from morsi, we're still again potentially navigating that relationship. we support about 80% of the military procurement in egypt right now. how do we do that because we're dealing with morsi more directly? are we dealing with the military commanders behind closed doors? do we have a different type of relationship with the military right now and can they be trusted not to turn those weapons against us or also our ally israel? >> well i think, jenna, what the obama administration wants to do right now is sort of get through this very turbulent period at the moment. so you will not see a change in this aid right now. i think what they want to see is how the military behaves, for example during this referendum? how do they behave of at

referendum. jenna: what do you think the behavior will be? >> what the concern is looks like morsi is trying to ram the constitution through. this is islamist in its character and concentrates hands in the power of the president. you see opposition may be boycotting referendum on saturday. will the military for example, crack down on the opposition and help this constitution get through in sort of undemocratic way? i think that would raise real concerns about their independence from this, from the muslim brotherhood and from president morsi. jenna: that is interesting point because we remember watching the military with the overthrow eventually of mubarak and how their role shifted during those protests and how it could be seen as a tippingpoint as you mentioned, michael. great to have your insights as always. thank you so much. >> thank you, jenna, imagine this. the hiv vie russ -- virus used toe make people well? a cancer treatment using hiv bring as little girl with

lukemia back from the brink of death. we'll bring those details. north korea is trying to develop a missile that could hit the united states. the look at the timing of its controversial rocket launch next

jon: new information out of north korea concerning its controversial missile launch. that rogue nation now extending the window by one week to december 29th to get that missile off the ground. the north claims the launch is part of a peaceful bid to

advance its space program but the united nations says it's a cover to test technology for long range ballistic missiles capable of hitting the u.s. talk about it with david albright, president of institute for science and international security. he is also a former weapons inspector and one of a handful of americans who has actually visited north korea. david, you say that north korea wants to be able to threaten the united states. why? >> well i think they see the united states as an enemy. so i would say that this, the launch does happen it is not to celebrate the anniversary of, or to mourn, whatever you want to say the death of kim jong-il last december. that they are doing this test to further their own national security interests and, one of those interests is to have a robust, i would argue, nuclear deterrent against the united states. now, i would also add that they are more than willing to negotiate about that.

i don't think it's inevitable that north korea would have nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles aimed at the united states but i do think they intend to try to accomplish that and this launch is a step, probably an early step, in terms of the developing that capability. jon: well the u.n., the u.s., seoul, said if you launch the missile it will be very provocative act. it could bring on new sanctions. i thought we were sanctioning everything we could in north korea. are we not? >> no, no. again a lot of new techniques have been applied developing new sanctions to iran. one of the methods to apply u.n. and e.u. sanctions of iran was to study the economy of iran. look for have anotherabilities in their financial system and their trade system and that kind of approach has not been applied to north korea very effectively.

therefore the sanctions have been rather porous. i would bet north korea buys a lot of things for its missile program in china. we know they buy things for their gas centrifuge program in china. some things are made in germany. probably made in the u.s. china has been a major gap in this whole system. on sanctions and north korea could face tougher action from china might constrict some of its ability to buy things that it absolutely needs for its nuclear programs. jon: you think it is likely american-made technology is helping north korea with its missile program? >> could be. i don't know the missile program nearly as well as the nuclear but what north korea does, it uses china a sense as a transshipment point because many companies, high-tech companies from america, from europe, have subsidiaries in china, selling to chinese industries and trading companies. north korea works that system very well to end up with those kinds of high-tech items from outside china. and so while i can't speak

specifically on the missile program i certainly can on the nuclear and yes, indeed, north korea buys european high-tech equipment and likely u.s. equipment. so it's a problem. china has been made aware of the problem but they haven't done enough and, i think this missile launch could be a further step. again if it happens, it could be another step in building pressure on china to enforce the u.n. security council sanctions on north korea and in fact to team up with the rest of the world to try to apply stronger sanctions and more effective sanctions on north korea. jon: kim jong-un and his father indicated, they proved time and time again they were more interested in having ballistic missiles and that kind of technology than they were in seeing their people fed. are you convinced that there is a way to impose sanctions on north korea that would hurt the regime without making more of the people starve? >> well, i think, in the

initial stage, yes. i mean i think one of the lessons of iran is that at some point the sanctions can bite so deeply that the average person is going to suffer. now, these sanctions on north korea, if followed the through will be make it much harder on elite. most of the people in north korea suffering so much they will probably not suffer more with the sanctions the target of the sanctions is the nuclear and missile programs. so there is a lot of work that can be done applying those and finding better ways of applying those in north korea. jon: david albright from the institute of science and national security. a man who has been to north korea. david, interesting. >> thank you. jon: thank you. jenna: we'll turn to an amazing discovery in medicine. the parents of a young lukemia patient say they have their daughter back. little emma making a full recovery after an

experimental treatment that uses the hiv virus for good. the doctors in with a closer look at a remarkable medical break-through and what it could mean for potentially curing cancer. mexican american singer. jenni rivera killed in a plane crash. what we know about the plane crash and more on her extraordinary career next

hour the man who created software that millions have on computers is accused murder. why john mcafee says he is being targeted by corrupt authorities. we'll tell you latest on that story. big tax breaks for makers of solar panels. people in one say the promise of new jobs and more revenue is simply not panning out. we showed you one chapter of the story that played out on friday. a world war ii plane raised from the bottom of lake mesh gan. -- michigan. what is happening now new

next hour. jon: mexican american singing sensation jenni rivera is confirmed dead after the plane she was using crashed in mountains in north mexico. six other were killed. they are searching for wreckage in the plane. she sold millions of records and won all kinds of awards. jenna: well a young lukemia patient is now in full remission after a experimental new treatment that some say may change the way that we treat cancer. doctors using a disabled form of hiv altered 6-year-old emma whitehead's immune cells. her parents agreeing to the procedure in a last-ditch effort to save her life. six months later apparently she is doing okay. dr. lee vinocur of lsu is with us now. let's go through this step by step, doctor. why a disabled form of hiv? >> well it is interesting.

it is a form of immune therapy and hiv is a virus that invades t-cells and very frequently we use viruses as vehicles to get into cells and by using the t-cells, the t cells get targeted and engineered to kill her b-cells which are the cells that have gone haywire and caused lukemia. jenna: t-cells if i could, are like watchdogs in your body. when an intruder comes in, in this case it is cancer, the t-cells can attack the cancer and make you well? >> right. but they naturally wouldn't be doing that unless you had an autoimmune problem where your own cells attack your body. by engineering them and using, putting the genes in with the hiv virus which normally invades t-cells anyway, that is how hiv kills people, it kills your t-cells. so by normally doing that and then programing it

through genes to kill the b-cells, it is picking up a protein on the b-cell but on the healthy b-sells and cancer russ b-cells. so that is the draw back. jenna: when you genetically modify hiv virus do you have a risk of getting the virus down the line? >> no, it is pretty much gutted out. normally it would invade a t-cell and multiplying very fast and break out and invade more t-cells and kill your t-cells. but it is modified so it can not replicate. it gets into the t cell and puts genes and dna there that recognizes the b-cell as foreign and kills the b-cell. jenna: so much of a significant part of this story that this little girl has survived and a few adults have gone through this treatment have also survived. once you do the treatment, doc, do you have to continue to do the treatment the next several years? do you need more t cells trained or genetically

modified to make sure you keep the bad stuff away? >> that is a good question, jenna. we're talking about four people. it is still very early. she was the first girl. there were three other adults. it sort of works like a vaccine. it kills the cancer cells. those t-cells die down as there is less and less cancer cells and she went miraculously into remission so far. then you have the memory cells which sort of cruise around the body and wait for another invasion. that is how a vaccine works. then if you get exposed to that germ or whatever the memory cells ramp up again and you make more of the t-cells. theoretically it could be like a lifelong immunity. jenna: that is amazing. we should mention to the viewers during the treatment, there are moments where you get very, very sick. one doctor called it the shake and bakes. when you get this stuff out of your system. this little girl almost died during this treatment. now, of course now she is doing well and happy for her. >> right.

jenna: some suggest, doc, that this could replace bone marrow transplants? how big of a deal do you think it is getting closer to the cure for cancer? >> well i think that it is a pretty big deal and it is modulating the immune system. it is a targeted personal therapy so not one, it is genetically engineered just for your b-cells and it has to be done individually. but, it is less money than a bone marrow transplant but still more expensive than regular chemotherapy. but it is definitely a first step and they will eventually look at it towards solid tumors, breast, prostate. so i think it's pretty promising and very exciting that you're able to make these natural killers in your own body to attack your cancer. jenna: it is fascinating. she is 7 years old. her favorite subjects in school, recess and lunch. we wish little emma well. we can certainly understand that, can't we. >> right. jenna: we'll talk about something that may move us

in a positive direction when it comes to the fight against cancer. doctor, always great to see you. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. jon: somebody who might be shopping for a new cure for cancer, venezuela's president, hugo chavez will undergo a fourth operation for cancer we're told. will he be forced to leave office? what could that mean for the united states and our relations with that country? also we hear a lot about what will happen if the country goes off the so-called fiscal cliff. the man who served as co-chair of the president's debt commission, former senator alan simpson has criticized both parties for failing to reach an agreement. we'll take a look whether he's right. >> if anybody out there who is quote rich doesn't think their taxes go up, the drinks are on me. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you.

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jon: right now an update on the health of venezuela's president hugo chavez. chavez announced he has pelvic cancer and it has returned. this could affect his presidency. patti ann browne with new details for us? >> reporter: the announcement from president hugo chavez is raising question about venezuela's constitution and it is rallying his opposition. chavez addressed the nation saturday night saying his cancer has returned and he may not be able to serve a fourth term. chavez is due to be sworn in january 10th and headed to cuba for the fourth surgery and treatment for pelvic cancer and he says he might not be well enough to take the oath of office. in his half hour address, chavez said he should be succeeded by his 52-year-old vice president, nicholas meduro. he was foreign minister before chavez named him to the current post. "l.a. times" and other outlets say the possibility of chavez leaving office could boost chances of

opposition candidate. the announcement has rocked the political world in venezuela and wealth beyond. jon: patti ann browne joining us from the breaking news desk. thank you? >> reporter: thank you. jenna: a new information on the fiscal cliff crisis. easy enough for me to say. the fiscal cliff crisis and what going off it could actually mean for us. there seems to be little disagreement what this is all about. take a listen. >> when you're addicted to debt, 16 trillion bucks and you're in the hole, one trillion, and the markets will jump in and nobody will know when that is. the tippingpoint was always described by dick durbin, when will it happen? when it happens interest rates will go up, inflation will go up and guy that gets hurt the worst is the little guy. >> i think the overhyping of deficit, the deficit mania that is seized this town is kind of crazy. i mean i love alan simpson and erskine bowles, they're talking about inflation at a moment when people are

paying us money to invest in our treasury bonds? jenna: charles payne, fox business network. he has his own list what we should worry about, charles, who is right here? >> reporter: i got to tell you the idea people are giving us money, america to our treasury bonds doesn't necessarily mean it is a vote of confidence in america. means the alternatives, traditional alternatives like europe are so much scarier but that is the path we're going down, jenna. it is disingenuous to suggest, hey, the federal reserve is printing money to buy treasury bonds somehow that means inflation is not a big deal. somehow 16 trillion in debt going north of 20 trillion in debt is not a big deal. it is a big deal. the correct answer, everyone, everyone watching this show, i don't care if you're working or not working, you will be negative impacted what is going on in washington right now. jenna: what does that look like? high inflation, high interest rates coming down the line that alan simpson is mentioning? >> absolutely. alan simpson is spot on. as debt-to-gdp ratio grows,

it impacts the growth of your country, no doubt about it. europe, 70%, 80% is when you start to see negative impact. that hurts everyone and all of our live lie hoods. when you get 95% of the gdp when it starts to have disasterous impact. >> wealthy are in focus for this fiscal cliff deal but based on what we're talking about here today, charles, you believe your average american family, regardless what happens with this deal or not, will be affected when by some of these higher interest rates or higher inflation you see coming for the country? >> absolutely. even without this, just with some taxes coming in, associated with the new health care law and other things, we're talking about people paying taxes on what they call, unearned income, which is misno, ma'am ir. obviously money you got to invest in that restaurant or invest in the stocks was earned in the first place and you're taking a risk. if you pay taxes on rent, as person paying taxes guess who will pass the cost

along? i will pass along to whoever is renting from me. jenna: when you see this, we go back to the high inflation, some other impacts, we're printing so much money from the federal reserve. that is something we expect to hear this week from the federal reserve we'll continue do in the year to come, when do you see the pedal hitting the metal so to say, charles? when do you see higher inflation to come? >> i've got to tell you in many respects it is already here. this is what people should realize. the way the government watches through the cpi number, they take into account a basket of goods. let's say you were able to buy a porthouse steak last year 50 bucks a pound. if you buy a flank steak at 50 bucks a pound, inflation hasn't adjusted. federal income taxes won't be calculated into the official way they take into account inflation. local taxes are but not federal taxes. life will be more expensive for most people. they won't even take that into account. inflation is already here and will get worse. jenna: i think my head hurt

a little bit, jon. i'm getting hungry by the minutes of steak. >> i always do a 2-for-1. jon: charles is buying. jenna: great advice, charles. thanks for your perspective. we'll be back with more "happening now" at the top of the hour ♪ [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. it's amazing what soup can do

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jenna: the window is open and the world watching. north korea set to fire a long-rank rocket. many think this is a test for developing a long range ballistic missile, one that could reach the u.s. mainland. word the launch could be delayed. we'll sort through some of that for you coming up in a moment. the daring rescue of an american doctor held captive by the taliban in afghanistan, one navy seal killed, the member of one of our most elite teams. the latest on that story. big tax breaks and other financial perks for the makers of solar panels. some people in one state say they are really not getting the love back they expected. why green energy is leaving some folks a little blue. those stories and breaking news all "happening now."

the whole region on high alert as north korea moves ahead with plans to launch the long range rocket despite technical trouble we are hearing about. welcome to "happening now," i'm jenna. jon: i'm jon scott. the secretive nation announced a delay. the last attempt in april ended in failure. the united nations band north korea from conducting any missile tests several years ago after it tested nuclear weapons. the west considers the upcoming launch test for north korea to try to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of deliver a warhead. pwaeufdavid piper is streaming live from thailand. >> reporter: north korea wants

to get this off without a hitch because the last one failed in april. a spokesman for north korea said there were technical problems with the module of the rocket but didn't elaborate. he said they were extending the launch period from now until december 29th. he added they were going ahead with final preparations for the launch despite those problems. scientists say the problem could be the unusually freezing weather around the site at the moment which could stall the liftoff. analysts are suggesting the delay may be because it's ally china as put pressure on them to stop the launch. the new leader kim jong un seems to be pushing for the rocket test. he calls it a peaceful bid to push toward its space program and says it was the last wish of the country's late president kim jong-il who died last december. december 17th is also an as you suspicious day for the north korea as it founder kim il sung

was born a hundred years ago that day. it is possible they will try to fire the rocket then. if they do i will will cause an international outcry. washington says it's an attempt to test the missile to see if it will reach the united states. if the launch is successful north korea could develop international intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reach the u.s. mainland within a couple of years. both have warned if the test goes ahead north korea will face new sanctions. it comes at a sensitive time for both south korea and japan who hold elections this month. tokyo has already deployed its military to takeout any debris from the rocket and also the u.s. military as deployed more ships with special antimissile systems so they could intercept the rocket if it does go towards japan. back to you, jon. jon: david piper keeping an eye on north korea. thank you. jenna: we'll stay with overseas

news and go straight to egypt. egypt plunging deeper into turmoil as the military acting on orders of the president there out in force and giving new power to arrest civilians ahead of this week's vote on that draft constitution that is so controversial. this as thousands of protestors take to the streets near the presidential palace in cairo demanding the fall of the new regime. conor powell is live with more now. >> reporter: jenna, this political crisis is only growing and increasing in seriousness. at the heart of all this is the draft constitution which is supposed to be voted on on saturday. opposition groups want that vote postponed. they say the draft constitution is too islamic, they say it's antidemocratic. the morsi government wants this vote to happen. protestors have been out for nearly three weeks now. today morsi instituted marshal law. he's given the egyptian military police power to arrest anyone

protesting. the decree lasts until december 15th, saturday, but the military and the police also have the ability to arrest civilians all the way up until the votes and the results are released. this so-called temporary security measure of course revives memories of the hosni mubarak era which had similar measures and they lasted all the way up until his overthrow nearly two years ago. opposition groups are calling for protest votes tomorrow and through the weekend on saturday, and morsi is calling his supportress to get out there. over the weekend, though, the military tried to play the role of mediator. they essentially called for dialogue, wanted both sides to talk. if they start arresting people over the next few days their role of mediator will likely end and, jenna it is not clear what will happen. we could see a renewed sense of violence on the streets, and this could get really, really nasty overt next few days. jenna: all the more reason to keep a close eye on what is happening there. connor, thank you very much. jon: right now president obama

is on his way to michigan to continue his campaign to raise taxes on the wealthy. he'll be meeting with some autoworkers, asking them to support his plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. yesterday the president invited house speaker john boehner to the white house for their first face-to-face meeting in weeks. neither party releasing any details of what transpired in that meeting. reuters is reporting the house republican offer issued last week, quote, remains the republican offer. speaker john boehner is still waiting for a new proposal from president obama, that is all uncording to an unnamed aide to the speaker. meanwhile some republicans are calling on speaker john boehner to give the president what he wants on taxes so the party can focus on cutting entitlement programs. >> a lot of people are putting forth a theory, and i actually think it has merit where you go ahead and give the president the 2% increase that he's talking about, the rate increase on the top 2%, and all of a sudden the shift goes back to entitlements.

>> if speaker john boehner ends up with senator corker has just said he is we will get a large agreement. but speaker john boehner hasn't said that, and so we democrats realize that there have to be two sides to this bargain. jon: special report anchor bret baier joins us now in washington. if people like senator corker say the tax increases would be okay with them on the highs income earners in this country it seems that that is bound to be part of the deal that transpires here. >> reporter: jon, senator cork eris not in the house corkerrer. jon: go point. >> reporter: he does not have a vote there. john boehner is steering the investigation and he has to steer 218 house republicans to vote for this deal. they really steer the ship. senator corker can talk about possible compromises and obviously he's influential when he speaks about it, but the bottom line it's about those

votes in the house chamber. you know, behind me you could usually see the capitol dome, it's very foggy here and it's very foggy about seeing the picture of how exactly this all comes together on the fiscal cliff negotiations. while there are outlines of what a possible compromise could look like, liken stead of raising tax rates to 39.6% which was the clinton-era rate, maybe go to 37% and close some loopholes and deductions. there are still not indications that house republicans are willing to do that. and on the spending side, which really if you look at the media across the board, there hasn't been a lot of focus on it at all. the spending side. and what spending cuts are on the table. we haven't heard anything specific about what is in addition to what's been out there from the very beginning. jon: right because the republicans claim the country

doesn't have an income or a revenue problem it has a spending problem, and that's where republicans say the bulk of the savings, or the rescue plan for this -- this budget is going to come. >> reporter: sure, i mean you have some proposals that are out there, for example, means testing, medicare, social security. you have adjustments to consumer price index with social security, not to get too in the weeds here, but all of these things add up to significant numbers at the end of the day, and you also have raising retirement age. those things are not things that the democratic caucus has been willing to talk about, or to touch, so you have this standoff, and it is continuing, and we don't have specifics of that meeting between president obama and house speaker john boehner, but here is another thing to remember is that despite the fact that you have this deadline at the end of the

year, the deadline really is about five days before christmas, right about the 19th or the 20th, because you need legislative days to make the legislative sausage work up here on capitol hill even though you can't see it behind me, they need time to make it all come together legislatively. jon: thank you. be sure to catch bret tonight anchoring special report at 6:00 on fox news channel. jenna: we will be talking a little bit about the man of accused murdering people inside a kroeud movie theater. what is happening while he's back in court today. it's the first time we've seen him since he reportedly tried to kill himself in jail. the latest, a live report from colorado coming up. also we watched together on friday a world war ii fighter jet being brought to the surface after sitting at the bottom of lake michigan for more than 6

5:00 years. where its headed now, and what about the other reported 80 planes on the bottom of that lake, just like that one? we'll talk about that coming up. [ loud party sounds ]

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jenna: right now the man accused of opening fire inside that crowded colorado movie theater is back in court today. it's the first time we are seeing james holmes since he reportedly tried to kill himself in jail last month. holmes is accused of murdering 12 people, injuring at least 58 during a showing of the new batman movie in july. alicia acuna is following the story since it first broke. one of the main focuses of today's hearing is on the media. tell us little bit about that. >> reporter: that's right, jenna. today revolves around how the media gained access to the content of a notebook that james

holmes sent to his psychiatrist, his university of colorado psychiatrist. now the defense is accusing the prosecution of leaking that information and therefore violating the gag order on the case. holmes attorneys want the district attorney's office to be sanctioned. we have previously reported the notebook contains details of killing people. it was mailed prior to the shooting and found in the university of colorado's mailroom afterward. case observers say this is part of the defense's strategy to delay what will likely be a death penalty case. >> the defense is just dedicated to keeping their client alive. all of this delaying, it only helps the defense, it keeps their client alive. >> reporter: now, the new district attorney doesn't take over until next month, and, jenna, this hearing today is expected to go all day. they have multiple witnesses to take the stand. jenna: we don't have any cameras inside the courtroom today otherwise we'd be showing our

viewers some of the freshest images that we have of holmes. what do we know about his condition right now? >> reporter: because of the gag order the attorneys aren't allowed to tell us any specifics about his condition. as far as we know he is in there today, because last month he missed his hearing because he reportedly had bashed his head against his jail-cell wall and this wasn't the first time that he has reportedly tried to hurt himself. in fact tmz had reported that holmes had made many half-hearted attempts at sue suicide. you mentioned there are no cameras in the courtroom. the judge is not allowing them in there. we have a fox news reporter in there, and she will be reporting all the details of that hearing today. jenna: we'll keep our viewers updated on that. thank you so much. jon: still ahead and update on the daring rescue of an american doctor behind enemy lines in afghanistan. he is a free man, thanks to the incredible bravery of our u.s. navy seals, but his freedom comes at a terrible price.

plus, syria coming apart at the seams, extremist groups playing a big role in the up rising. we will discuss how this will effect the united states and our policies there, next. [ male announcer ] red lobster's hitting the streets to tell real people about our new 15 under $15 menu. oh my goodness! oh my gosh, this looks amazing! [ male announcer ] our new maine stays! 15entrees under $15, seafood, chicken and more! oothe tilapiawith roastedegetab! i'm actually looking at the wo grilled chicken

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jenna: right now the civil war in syria is raging and all fronts. on the battlefield the rebels making new gains or so we hear from amateur video we are watching capturing parts of another large army base in the country's north and increasing their control of an area that is right near turkey. the fighting is spilling over into lebanon. you can sigh how it's all working out on this map. there is intense fighting in lebanon and gun battles are breaking out in the city of tripoli there. reports of 17 killed.

in the meantime more members of the regime are jump ship, nine syrian judges and prosecutors defecting to the opposition. the government's biggest ally, or one of their biggest allies is standing fast. russia is saying today it rejects any outside interference on dealing with syria's political future, adding to the danger of all of this we have anti-american extremists groups now playing a bigger role in the uprising. joining me now is general jack keane, retired four-star general, vice cheech of the army and a fox news military analyst. we hear a red line has been drawn after 21 months in, there is the use of chemical republicans. what is the or what, if bashar al-assad decides to use chemical weapons now? >> i'm not certain he takes that threat very seriously. jenna: what is the threaten. >> first of all that there is no specifics associated with it. and quite frankly he knows the united states is sitting on the sidelines here watching this thing. he recognizes that we are not a

major influence among the rebels, and the rebels are very frustrated with the united states. he'll make a decision not having anything to do with the united states as to whether he wants to use weapons or not. jenna: if we name the consequence, whatever that would be, do you think that would impact his decision and what he's going to do next at all? >> i don't think so. jenna: so are we powerless? >> no, i mean we can act, but i don't think it would stop him from acting. we can react to what he does, certainly, but the fact of the matter is he has those weapons, let's face it, to deal with israel, that's what he had them for. secondly to preserve his ra skwraoeplt. regime. in he believes that is threatened to the point where he's not be able to survive and he has the influence to use those weapons i assume he would. jenna: let's pull up the map again as we look at the region. it's not just about syria, even though we focus specifically on it. we can leave the map up, it's a message for the entire region in general. you know, what do you think is the message to the region 21

months in and we haven't done anything? >> well, the longer this takes the worse it gets because you have other people influencing it. there is spill over in lebanon, we have already seen it in turkey. there's been some spill over in israel. and we can expect some probably in jordan. the kurds will get involved at some point, you have the radicals, the jihaddists who are gaining in influence as the months go by. they were initially about 1% of the rebel force. now they are up to 7-plus% of it and somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 to 10,000. that little clip you used that was a jihaddist taking that base. they are the most aggressive and most experienced fighters now in that rebel force. jenna: what kind of threat do they pose us? >> i think there is a serious threat there. they'll fight to maintain some kind of control of this regime in the post bashar al-assad era. if they don't do that they could go to eastern syria, declare the islamist syrian state and from that base of operations launch,

you know, terrorist operations not only in syria, but in the region. they are going to be a real challenge for us. jenna: general keane, if you could do anything, if you had the power to say, this is what our policy is going to be to syria, this is the action we need to take right now military, what would it be? >> i argued for some time that we should have been providing thaoet thal aid to the free syrian army the more moderates to former military leaders fighting on the side of the rebels. jenna: you kneel comfortable trusting them? >> yes, look we'll pick some winners and losers in it. if you sit on the fence you'll guarantee you won't have a seat at the table at the end. if you get involved you can have a chance to influence. i also would have put in place a no-fly zone, a shut down of air power which would have brought this think to completion a longtime ago, then the jihaddist influence would not have grown to the state it's in and we would not have had as much spill

over as we have now. jenna: would you advocate a no-fly zone now. >> sure it brings it to a conclusion. jenna: i want to get your quick thoughts on this story that came autopsy last night about a navy seal killed during this hostage rescue in afghanistan of an american doctor there working for a nonprofit, we certainly mourn his death, and think about his family today, i'm just wondering if you can offer a little insight because we don't talk a lot about afghanistan right now, about why the seals would be sent in for this mission, what kind of strategic importance potentially that could have been to us? when would that call have been made, and why? >> certainly, i mean a seal is part of seal team 6 and our delta guys theee leave the the united states military. i'm sure he was doing exactly what he wanted to do with the team members that he has, he's truly a hero in every sense of the word as are our troops on a regular bas basis. i don't think this is a tough

call. we have a doctor, u.s. citizen, the nongovernment effort that takes place in afghanistan is very important to our success, and they had probably a pretty good fix on where he was. they thought they would get in there and get out and certainly rescue him with no loss of life. these things are challenging. remember, we went off the british journalist. jenna: absolutely. >> and we tried to get here and during the course of that action she was killed tragically. so i think when we have these opportunities, we know what will happen to them over the period of time, and we've got begin tell generals on it i think we should act, i don't think it was a tough guy for our guys. jenna: it's a reminder that we are at war, and when we are at war there are risks. we have to remind ourselves of that as we have tens of thousands of troops over there night. general jack keane thank you. nice to see you. jon: breaking news from indonesia r-, a 7.2 magnitude

earthquake in the banda sea, reported at a depth of 96 miles before the surface of the earth. according to the tsunami center that is too deep to generate a tsunami. it was eight years ago after christmas in 2004 when that monstrous tsunami killed roughly a quarter of a million people in indonesia thailand, that part of the world. this one apparently is not generating a tsunami warning because it was too deep below the surface of the earth to shift the ocean floor enough to cause a tsunami. we will continue to keep an eye on that story. well, he helped millions of people protect their computers from viruses. now john macafee is facing murder charges in central america. he says he's been targeted by corrupt authorities. we'll tell you why coming up. heavy snow blankets a huge part of the country. we'll tell you who got hit the hardest and whether there is more snow on the way

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jon: a fox extreme weather alert. jenna break out the puffy coat because a major winter storm is slamming a big part of the nation n. north texas early morning snow sending cars skidding off icy roads.

multiple accidents report ned the luck box area. blizzard conditions causing crashes in the midwest where the hefist snowfall in two winters has already hit. wisconsin pounded with double digit ab achedouble tkeupbl double digits. vikings fans were tailgating even though the snow was falling. they are hardy folk those viking fans. maria molina live in the tprobgs epfox epl team weather center with. >> reporter: significant snowfall over the midwest. a foot of snow across parts of wisconsin, minimum s minnesota in. in mad san south dakota 11-inches. incredible amounts from this storm system that has left behind very cold temperatures.

another thing we've been experiencing over the last couple of weeks is very mild temperatures and above average temperatures across most of the lower 48. that has come to an end today. current temperatures 11 degrees in minneapolis. 34 degrees in the city of chicago. east of the frontal system it's extremely mild including new york city where the current temperature is 5:00 5:00. widespread 60s through the carolinas, into poerpbgss of new orleans. some of that mild air is actually going to be help to fire up severe forms across pourings of the gulf coast. as we head into tomorrow we'll actually continue to see the cool air spreading eastward. new york city you'll be experiencing a cooldown, 45 for your high temperature and 36 over in the city of cleveland. the area that we need to watch today for possible severe weather we've been having tornado warnings issued across the area is parts of alabama, southern mississippi and southeastern louisiana. jon of course we'll keep you posted with any updates. jon: we should expect a lot of wind in new york city.

don't get those kind of temperature drops without a lot of wind. >> and airport delays today because of the fog and mist and showers rolling through. a messy day today. jon: thank you. jenna: software millionaire john macafee now speaking out from a guatemalan detention center saying he wants to return to the united states but that might not be exactly in the cards. the reason is he's fight ago deportation order concerning the shooting death of his neighbor in ba belize, which is where the story started. >> reporter: it's a legal battle right now. macafee is fighting deportation from guatemala to belize and that could take some months to settle. he says his ultimate goal is to return to the united states. >> the problem i had the other day is i did not eat for two days, i drank very little liquids and for the first time in many years i've been smoking

almost nonstop. i stood up, passed out, hit my head on the wall, came to in total confusion. i am fine now. >> reporter: macafee claims his life would be in danger if he were forced to return to belize where he says he's exposed corruption among senior government officials. belize's prime minister has said that quote, macafee is bonkers. there were concerns he might have had a heart attack. he said he's fine now but suffering from stress from life on the run. it began one month ago when he left belize with a 20-year-old girlfriend after they tried to question him about the shooting death of an american citizen one of his neighbors. macafee right now in that detention center and he's being detained inside guatemala with his girlfriend for illegal entry into that country. jenna: nor twists and turns ahead, thank you. jon: brand-new questions about the solar industry has big solar

companies reap huge profits while the countries hosting the equipment saying they are getting little in return. william la jeunesse is live in los angeles with more on that. >> reporter: california utilities must get 20% of their power from ooh newables. state and federal handouts made that happen. most environmentalists are happy for rate payers and counties who are not seeing the savings, the jobs or revenues they expected, the honeymoon for sunshine is over. >> there are going to be screw ups, there are going to be bankruptcies, there will be indictments and they'll be deaths but we're going to keep going and nothing is going to stop me. >> reporter: critics be dammed says governor jerry brown who backs solar energy regardless of cost or consequence. >> we are adamantly opposed to that because we are the people living with it forever. >> reporter: riverside is home to more solar energy than anywhere else in the u.s. after billions of tax incentives

and subsidies some call it a rip off. >> on the face of it it looks like a good deal. they talk about the huge jobs and long-term benefit to the county. we will be carrying the burden of having these types of facilities for decades to come. >> there isn't a single energy source in the ooh neate the united states that isn't subsidized right now. the truth is that the cost for solar power is going consistently down. >> reporter: costs are dropping but solar is still up to five times more expensive than conventional energy, and those plants tip he can lee play millions in local property taxes while solar pays next to nothing. when riverside tried to impose an impact fee big solar sued. >> the reason that we decided to litigate the riverside county tax is because it was an illegal tabgts. >> reporter: solar has local environmentalists on fire for bulldozing desert habitat and species. >> we have seen thousands of acres of the desert bladed. >> reporter: we are building the projects in the most

environmentally sensitive way as possible. >> reporter: the solar groups have been given a free pass despite the 45-story tower rising over the deserts, the mirrors, and the dead species. they tried to impose a fee if you will and that's why the lawsuit was filed. many would argue this is the price of progress and it may be our future, but right now some people not happy. jon: what is the saying, there is no free lunch, right, william? william la jeunesse. >> reporter: that is true. jon: william, thank you. jenna: there is growing concern about the political direction egypt is taking. are we getting an accurate picture of the muslim brotherhood and the latest developments happening inside that country? our news watch panel weighs in just ahead. [sound of gunfire] e bill? four sixteen seventy six a month!

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jenna: good news, maybe even

great news for a man named matthew good out of arizona who has just been named, we just learned his name as the powerball winner. remember there were two. one couple out of michigan, and we are learning a little bit about matthew good. apparently he's in his 30s, he's married. an didn't want obviously too many people to know about him when he found out he one $192 million. what he did do, jon, which is very interesting, sort of plays into our story about the cliff r-fr an, and what is going on witfiscal cliff. his supervisor said take it all in one lump-sum. that's what he did. 192million. jon: the face of the middle east and north africa is changing fast. as we saw the arab spring unfold last year many were hopeful of seeing sear just democratic reforms particularly in egypt. instead of muslim brotherhood is

grabbing the reigns there pushing to establish a hard line islamic government. some reports in the mainstream media go easy on the muslim brotherhood, though. let's talk about the coverage that that organization and that government is getting. jim pinkerton is a contributing editor and writer for the american conservative magazine. alan colmes is a host of the alan colmes radio show and author of "thank the liberals for saving america." part of this comes from the website news busters which points out that david kilpatrick the bureau chief for "the new york times," cairo bureau said on the radio last week that egypt's muslim brotherhood is not violent by nature, and is a moderate conservative, but religious regular, old political force. jim what, do you think about that? >> i think it's david kirkpatrick by the way. look, this speaks to the nature of the way the media are covering the whole egyptian situation as it has evolved in the last couple of years. i think the media made a major

investment in the arab spring and the idea that hosni mubarak was inch authentic and had to go, and again that word authenticity is very important in sort of transnational liberal thinking as in who truly represents the people of egypt, and they made the decision that hosni mubarak didn't, and that the muslim brotherhood does. and so they said, well, you know, this is the authentic voice coming out. the fact that president obama had invested so much in seeing the hosni mubarak government leave and the morsi government arrive i think it's made them slow to see what is happening in egypt on a day to day basis even though it is obvious that mohammed morsi fully intends to create hard line islamist regime there as explained in the last 80 years of the group's history. somehow "the new york times" manages to find that moderate,

unquote. jon: you're right, jim it is kirkpatrick, that's why you're so good keeping an eye on the media, including me. let's see what president obama had to say when hosni mubarak was in power listen to this. >> it is not the role of any other country to determine egypt's leaders, only the egyptian people can do that. what is clear, and what i indicated tonight to president hosni mubarak is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now. jon: so, the president got his wish. hosni mubarak ended up leaving office and look at what we have. who is this guy, this muslim brotherhood member, alan? >> it wasn't up to president obama to change government in egypt. it didn't happen because of president obama it happened because of an arab spring and it happened organically because the people in egypt, which is the way it should happen, we didn't direct the change. we may have had a wish that

hosni mubarak be replaced. i'm wondering if conservatives who are bemoaning morsi are suddenly paoeupbg for the days of hosni mubarak who at the time they would refer to as a dictator and a horrible guy. all of a sudden morsi is the bad guy. but don't forget morsi was instrumental in being the lynchpin in getting what was starting to be a war between israel and hamas to stop. they are no longer shooting each other because morsi was able to step in. i think it's still being determined. last week when he tried to expand his executive powers because of the reaction of the opposition has now pulled back on him. i'm not saying he shouldn't be watched and i'm not saying we don't have to be careful but this is about the egyptians going through a democratic change, it's not pretty, it wasn't pretty when we had an american revolution, but we are not doing it, they are doing it, this is organically happening because of an arab spring. jon: one of the things that has happened in egypt was of

mohammed morsi ascending to power, coptic christians are having their churches burned and so forth. >> alan just used the word organic two or three times, a sin a anytim synonem for authentic. if you take the view that this is what they should be, then mohammed morsi is a fine fellow. miss israelis would personally prefer hosni mubarak to mohammed morsi that is for sure. you go off the rails when you compare the egyptian revolution to the american revolution. >> i think you missed my point. my point is when you have a change in government and when you go from one kind of government to another it's not pretty. i'm not suggesting this is analogous in every way to the american revolution but it's certainly a big change from what had existed before. it's funny for me to hear conservatives fine for hosni mubarak who they never liked

that much when he was in power. >> they liked him a lot he was pro-israel and proamerican. >> he's a dick taeutder. a dictator. >> allies are fine as long as they are allies. >> as long as they are dictators on our side they are good dictators. jon: we'll leave it there, alan colmes, jim pinkerton, our viewers should keep this in mind, this kind of discussion as they read the stories about what is going on in egypt. thank you both. >> tphaupbg. >> thank you. jenna: the star of the number one youtube video in the world is kicking up controversy. why many are outraged by the warm welcome this south korean rapper got from the white house this weekend. where this fighter plane is now and what is next for the world war ii relic ahead? that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's.

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cool story that unfolded live on friday. a world war ii fighter plane sitting at the bottom of lake michigan for more than 6 5:00 years is now on the surface as you can see. right now at this moment it's in a hang arwhere locals can get a look at it before it moves onto its new home at the national museum of naval education in pensacola florida. we have an a and t recovery manager who helps recover the planes. and an admiral. why did you want to see this one on the surface. >> this is an airplane that represents the greatest generation in world war 2 roam. these young men and women who flew the aircraft, and maintained the airplanes the wildcat was our front-line fighter at the beginning of world war ii. to bring an aircraft like this

back into existence for all americans and people from around the world to see is critically important to our mission of presenting and preserving the history of naval aviation. jon: these things were pretty rugged when they were built but it's pretty hard to bring them to the surface half what, 6 5:00 years without them breaking to piece. how did you do that? >> well, i want to say it's really difficult, but we've been doing it for years and we've done it a number of times. we do it just very slowly and very carefully. >> towing it as i understand it you had to tow this thing underwater slower than a person walks. >> yeah, well, it was about 45 miles from shore, so it's several days of towing. it's a long, tiring process, and we have to have absolute calm, perfectly calm weather to do it. >> it was amazing to watch as we continue to watch some of the pictures we have from that day.

admiral i'm curious, we were talking a little bit about the journey that this plane takes, and we mentioned it's in a hangar then it's going to go to pensacola, florida. i read it takes five years to restore. why so long, and where do you even start? >> well, the restoration of these priceless artifacts is very important here for our foundation and the museum. when it gets down here in pensacola we'll go through a very rigorous process of removing the 6 5:00-plus years of junk and gunnin gunk on that airplane, what you'll find is many of the structural members that hold the airplane together have deteriorated. we have to rebuild many of those. not that many parts for airplanes from 6 5:00 years ago. it's a long, painstaking process. depending on funding it can go faster. we've done some of them in as short as two years, we've had

other airplanes, a really large one that took almost ten years to restore it and it looks great in our museum today. jenna: we can't wait to see the final product. we are excited for the process to get started. nice tow have you with us. we'll continue to watch as more planes potentially come to the surface from lake michigan. thank you to you both. jon: a quick update to a story we brought you near the beginning of "happening now" today. the 73-year-old man who was convicted of killing a seven-year-old neighbor more than 50 years ago, in 1957, has been sentenced to prison for the rest of his live. jack ma cull louisiana macullough sentenced to life in prison for the killing of a seven-year-old, a former policeman.

jenna: well, i played hookie from work on friday -- jon: yes, you did. jenna: but it wasn't to go to the beach, but it was better.

i wanted to share with you what i was doing, i was lucky enough to emcee the if not me, then two, for the travis man onfoundation. he was killed in action in 2007, and his family -- you just saw his sister there on stage -- just started this wonderful foundation that helps veterans and also the families of the fallen. and a few very unique and impactful ways. so this was a big event. the marine corps commandant, general amos, was there, he handed out the first leadership award to brian stann. you might recognize him, he's a marine, he's a ufc fighter as well and ceo for higher heroes usa. the next day there was also a panel that talked about jobs and getting veterans back into the work force, and the chairman of the joint chiefs, general dempsey, was there. so it was a great few days, and congratulations to the foundation for putting some great events togeer